his hand so hard it hurt, and when he glanced down he could see that her knuckles were white. Even so, he wasn’t sure who was comforting whom. It felt like the world had come to an end and they were cast adrift with nothing solid to cling to but each other.
They walked for ten minutes before Sammy spoke again. “Where are we going, your house?”
He nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
“Think it’s safe?” she asked.
“I…” He stopped, unable to finish the sentence as his throat threatened to close up. I hope so.
He started to pull his hand free from hers, but she held on desperately. “Don’t leave me, Will. Please, you’re all I have left.”
He wanted to reassure her, but when he started to answer, he felt his emotions swell, as though they would overwhelm him. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her head against his chest. He couldn’t breathe, and when he attempted to draw air his chest grew tight. Opening his mouth, a wrenching sob escaped before he clenched his jaw shut. Eventually he managed a hoarse whisper, “I won’t.”
It was a few minutes before they both continued on their way. Will guessed he could get home within about ten minutes from where they were currently, but walking hand in hand would take a little longer.
They were getting close when they began to hear the characteristic sounds of men and horses. “I hear them,” said his cousin softly.
Will nodded. “The road isn’t far from here.”
“Your house is on the other side of it,” she remarked. “How are we going to cross?”
“We’ll have to wait,” he replied. And hope they aren’t already burning it down.
Not daring to get closer to the road, they stayed where they were, listening to the jingle of metal and the sounds of marching feet. It went on for an eternity, at least to Will. How many are there? he wondered. Judging by his ears, more men had passed than all the people he had ever met in his admittedly short life.
“Is that their entire army going by?” asked Sammy. “Shouldn’t they still be in Barrowden?”
“Our village is probably insignificant to them,” guessed Will. “They probably rode straight through and left the ones we saw to burn out everything behind them.”
Eventually the sounds faded, and they were left with only the relative quiet of the forest. Creeping forward, they risked a look and saw that the road was clear. They snuck to the very edge and looked once more before crossing, in case there were others coming, but they saw no one, so they ran across to the safety of the forest on the other side.
They were very near to the small turn off that led to Will’s house, but they didn’t hear anything that would indicate the soldiers had gone to explore it. Please let Mom be safe, prayed Will.
Since the road was clear, they followed it, staying on the relatively clear verge, but they discovered something strange when they got to the place where the turn off should have been. The entire beginning of the path was covered in strange, swirling flows of turyn.
“It’s gone!” gasped Sammy. “I don’t understand. The path was here just a few days ago.”
Will could see the trees and brush, but the magic rippling across the area made him doubt his eyes. “I think it’s been hidden by some kind of magic,” he told his cousin.
“Why would they do that?”
“It’s our grandfather,” said Will, and as he said it he realized that he could recognize the feel of his teacher’s turyn.
Sammy gave him a strange look. “You know he isn’t really your grandfather, don’t you? Dad was very firm about that.”
“He’s actually a wizard,” explained Will, “a very old one. Your Dad is right, he isn’t our grandfather, but our many times removed great-grandfather. He’s been teaching me magic.”
“You really have lost your mind,” said Sammy, a sad note in her voice.
Grabbing her hand, Will pulled his cousin along until they reached the area where the turyn was thickest. Then he walked straight toward a large elm that was standing where the path should have been. Sammy struggled, but she grew still when she saw his body pass through the seemingly solid tree.
The next few seconds were confusing, since the illusion wasn’t thin, and stretched on for twenty feet or so, but Will walked resolutely through until they emerged on the other side. The path was still there, clear in front of him. Now